Remember the 614 sedan with rear crescent moon window, and upwards stretched body ... looky now. Its gone the other way and destroyed for all time. 57 pics of it as a chopped hotrod.

MySpace.com - Mike 1930 Durant Project
View Mike 1930 Durant Project photos on MySpace. Upload a photo gallery like Mike on MySpace Photos. ... 1930 Durant 614 Before I Got My Hands On It! ...
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Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 614 Sedan

More pics of the once a car.
http://www.oldstoolrods.com/1930durant.html

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 614 Sedan

My Response:

I got the car with no floor, no interior, no frame, no wheels, no motor, no tranny, no glass, window slots welded over, and too many other things to mention. The guy I got it from in Arizona cut the car in half at the windhield posts. It was very flimsy and in 2 halves when I got it. The cab was unbraced and swaying back and forth in the breeze. He didn't weld any sort of bracing in when he removed the body from the two halves of the frame. It had been customized in the 1960's, and as far as I'm concerned that's when it was destroyed. The roof was raised 10" all around, and almost all original steel was cut out to rivit in that hideous moon panel. All seams including rear doors were welded shut, the door hardware and actuaters were cut out with a torch. The cowl legspace was encased in 1/4" plate steel, and had neon transformers mounted on it. The headlights were set up to flash neon.

All I did was actually give it a new life, and helped other Durant owners with parts they were looking for that I wasn't going to use.

Hate me if you want, but my goal was to bring it back to life using all GM parts. Everything on it is GM. Don't be so closed minded, If the guy I got it from would have kept it, it would be in a land fill by now. Now, it's something I truly love, and that's all that matters to me.

I'm a Shriner, and I'll be driving it in many parades, so don't you worry, I'm sure it'll get some clown action. And put some smiles on some kids' faces, and bring the name "Durant" to the Notstalgia Drag Races at Famosa strip and others.

To each his own....

Sincerely,
Mike Jordan

Do You own a car built by Durant? modified 1930 614

PS... It was sale for a great while. Surprised to hear all the negative commentary when NO ONE ELSE seemed to be interested in saving it, just ridiculing someone who actually wanted it!!

Do You own a car built by Durant? modified 1930 614

Hey Mike don't be thin skinned, you have to understand the Durantonians are a proud lot that hope to save as many of the original cars as possible, since their just ain't the many left out there. We have several members in our club that have both original Durant products and Hot rods too and that is fine. To take a car that is just about gone back to the earth and rod it can be OK, if you join us to keep the history of the man and the fine car company alive. Learn the history of Durant and when you are at the rod shows, tell everyone you can. I admire the work that goes into rodding a car and the time and money of course, what many car enthusiasts often get upset with is when the take a fairly rare good condition car and cut it up. I saw the late Boyd Coddington in his car show take a great condition Ford Model A and chop it up until it was almost unrecognizable and that was a shame. Once you cut them they will never be original again for future generations to enjoy, study and understand what early motoring was all about. Future generations want to be able to look at an original car, not with chevy engines or Ford transmission etc. That's not showing the original car. At our Auburn meet in 2007 one of the Durantonians brought his Star hot rod coupe to the show. I don't think anybody shunned or ignored him and he joined us along with all the other cars for our driving tour. He was welcome too.

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 dr

Hi Mike.....

I hate to see a good restorable car destroyed, but yours was neither a good restorable car or even a decent parts car. Just too far gone.

It was destroyed long ago when it was made into a rest room! You at least gave it a rebirth as a car !!!

That car was available for a long time and no one else saw any possibilities for it. I give you credit for having the vision and skill to put it back on the road. Hopefully it will help to bring the name Durant and His history to others.

You also were kind enough to help out our Club members with any extra parts you did not need.` I think we should thank you for that.

As Mike L. mentioned we have members who have "modified" their cars. Although not as radically as you. Many are rarer cars than what you have, they have been repowered with modern engines and updated running gear. At the Auburn meet Dave P. from Michigan brought his original Star coupe an his Star sedan street rod, I really enjoyed seeing both.

The car you started with was too far gone to be restored, but it was able to give new life to some that could be restored.

Just my 2 cents worth.....Frank ---

Do You own a car built by Durant? 14 Durant & Star cars & a Durant Dort buggy

I have to agree with Mike (Jordon). This car was ruined when they "customized" it in the 60's. I can't really see any one restoring it after that. Basically it was a parts car. And Mike has listed his left over parts on Ebay for the rest of us to buy. And utilized the rest for his project. Maybe he can post a photo. I don't like to see good cars rodded, but this one was too far gone.

Dave

Yes Mike .. you mean that Ford T coup Boyd took out of a museum and litterly destroyed it. Were many angry voices, purists and rod enthusiasts over that, and at that he junked the T parts. Everyone lost on that car for all time. And it didn't complete the race either as I remember. I watched that program and never watched another one.

Sorry Mike ... I struggled over my 1st mail with my comment. It was destroyed mainly with the cresent moon nonsense. Come for a wizz in my car didn't mean a quick drive down the road. If you recall there was a hue and cry over Levi destroying the 30 coup, that was restorable. At least the parts were saved for others to use on both. We almost lost the only known 633 sedan that was to be rodded.
Clown car didn't refer to you but as it was before you got it. I recall some British children's story books from the late 40's that had same type of trains, cars, trucks with raised roofs and train engineers with big moustaches, but for the life of me I can't recall what the books were called. They even had jigsaw puzzles for children to put together. That's the 1st thing I thought about when I 1st saw the car with raised roof and shorter body.

I guess there 3 group of people. The puritans, rodders, and those in between. Since I was a young lad I have disliked seeing any car turned into a hot rod / modified pre 33, my wife is the same way.

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 614 Sedan

Aren't these pages to be a forum for requests for parts and assistance and positive responses to same as well as a means of passing on news of achievements and the like? I used to visit our Forum Pages often but have found them recently to have become lengthy haranques, negativism, and personal attacks interspersed with some author's view of what, to him, is humour. Might I suggest that personal notes be sent directly to another individual to his private email address and not through the Forum Pages?
I submit this only after much careful consideration.

Do You own a car built by Durant? Yes - 1929 Durant 40 and 1927 Star R cabriolet

Hi from the Webmaster,

The Durant community has always been a welcoming group of people with of course different views on car restoration, maintenance and of course includes different views on hot rods, restoration purity as well the pros and cons of modern improvements over original parts. But overall we are an inclusive group regardless of our personal preferences.

While I could not think of turning a good car into a hot rod, those who did have made their unused parts available to the rest of us, thus helping keep and in some cases return cars back into service. In the case of the crescent moon car, all that was a left was a body of questionable condition; the Durant world did not lose anything. In the case of the Levi Coupe, all unneeded parts were sold to people that put them to good use. In fact I know if one case were the drive train will be used to complete an otherwise parts only car, again saving yet another Durant.

I placed this forum here to help each of us share our enthusiasm, knowledge and ideas and to create a bond between all fans of the motorcars produced by the Durant Motor Company. Over the last ten years it has served to unite people scattered throughout the world. It has been common for someone in America to ask a question and have someone in Australia give an answer, then someone else in Canada offer a part number and then yet another person in Europe or South America find a website or send pictures and articles and vise versa. It is not a place were we criticize others for their decisions. We all need each other and I mean that laterally. To repeat one last time, we are an inclusive group regardless of our personal preferences and I apologize to anyone that may have been offended as a result of something said here.

Rick

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1929 Model 60 Sport Roadster

DEAR FRIENDS AND DURANTONIANS....
IT IS SO VERY NICE TO BE ABLE TO GO TO A SITE WHERE DURANT MOTORS PRODUCT OWNERS CAN AIR THEIR OPINIONS. IT IS OF LITTLE CONCERN TO ME IF THE OWNER DRIVES A STOCK ANTIQUE , MODIFIED CAR..(WHICH MOST MODIFY FOR SAFETY DURING USAGE...I ASSUME YOU HAVE ALL HAD THE THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF TRYING TO STOP A CABLE BRAKE CAR FROM HIGHER SPEEDS)....OR A NICELY DONE STREET ROD....I HAVE ONE OF EACH. WHAT COUNTS IS THE COMRADERY OF THE CLUB MEMBERS..HELPING EACH OTHER WITH REPAIRS AND RESTORATIONS....AS WELL AS INFO ON THEIR EXPERIENCES MAKING THE CARS SAFE, DEPENDABLE AND "USABLE" AS EACH OWNER'S NEEDS REQUIRES. WHEN YOU ATTEND A MEET WITH US YOU WILL SEE IMMEDIATELY THE "FRIENDSHIP AND TOGETHERNESS " THAT BINDS US INTO THE D.M.O.C.....IF SOMEONE WISHES TO EXPRESS AN OPINION IN THE FORUM IT IS THEIR RIGHT TO DO SO. WE SHOULD ALL TAKE THESE WITH "A GRAIN OF SALT" AS THEY SAY....KEEP WHAT IS FOR EACH OF US THE "GRAINS OF WISDOM" AND DISCARD THE "CHAFF (THE WASTE)"......
AND NOW THAT I HAVE SETTLED THAT ISSUE FOR ALL OF YOU, YOU MAY THANK ME WHEN WE MEET AT THE NEXT D.M.O.C. GATHERING YOU ATTEND...I WILL LOOK FOR YOU AT LURAY, VIRGININIA..(SPELLED LIKE THAT FOR YOUR NORMIE)...OR IF YOU DISAGREE MAYBE I SHOULD LEAVE AND START MY OWN CLUB OF PEOPLE WHO AGREE WITH ME....
ON SECOND THOUGHT, I DON'T WANT TO DO ALL THAT START-UP STUFF AGAIN...

JUST MY OPINION....REGARDS, GARY K (ORIGINAL DURANT-STAR CLUB FOUNDER #1)

Mac
I don't think anything was said negative by anyone on this site. Norm was just stating it was gone for all times that's all. I think Mike took it a bit too seriously and is a bit sensitive. Are we going to start to police the forum and be "politically Correct", or like Gary said, share our opinions and thoughts pro and con. We are all friends here, and have opinions and once you get to know our club members everyone has a different opinion on how the best way to restore that part or this part or what has worked for them in the past. As long as it does not get too personal healthy discussions can be good for everyone.

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 dr